Tianjin, starting with unorthodox methods to achieve immortality

Chen Mo drank the ginger soup in the bowl in one gulp, returned the empty bowl to the sailor in the kitchen, and then went back to his room.

He had been looking at the river view all day yesterday and was getting a little tired of it; he had more important things to do right now.

The Jianglong's passenger cabins are not large, with only six rooms in total, distributed on both sides of the deck.

Chen Mo was assigned the room furthest to the right, with a window facing east, where he could see the sunrise in the morning. But at this moment, all he could see outside the window was the hazy river surface and the shadows of the mountains on both banks.

The room was about four or five square meters, with a single bed, a folding table fixed to the bulkhead, a metal cabinet, and a copper basin for washing faces in the corner.

Chen Mo closed the door and bolted it from the inside.

He didn't sit down immediately, but instead closed his eyes and sensed his surroundings.

Upstairs in the cockpit, Master Long and Tie Kun were talking in hushed tones. The room next door was empty, and two rooms further on, where Shen Yunjin and Li Jinrong were staying, were quiet at the moment.

everything is normal.

Chen Mo opened his eyes, flipped his right hand, and connected his thoughts.

Eight shadow puppets silently emerged from his shadow.

The black shape resembled a wisp of solidified smoke, without any physical form, yet it undeniably existed.

Eight pairs of empty eye sockets were fixed on Chen Mo, as if waiting for instructions.

"Get down," he whispered, pointing to the ground.

The eight shadow puppets sank into the floor at the same time, passing through layer after layer of ship planks, and finally reaching the bottom of the ship.

Chen Mo closed his eyes, his senses extending along the shadow puppet.

You can feel the cold river water flowing beneath the boat, and a few fish swim past the hull, creating a slight disturbance in the water.

The eight shadow puppets each found their positions.

Four were positioned on either side of the bow, two were on the outer plating directly below the rudder compartment at the stern, and the remaining two were lurking in the center of the hull.

Like eight nails, they firmly anchored the entire ship into the Shadow Puppet's sensory network.

If anyone attempts to approach the Jianglong from underwater and tamper with it, Shadow Puppet will detect it immediately and relay the information back to them.

After doing all this, Chen Mo finally sat down on the edge of the bed.

He took a deep breath, probed his storage space with his mind, and took out the Water Fiend Core.

The object was a size larger than a fist, with a smooth surface, and was currently gleaming with a dark red glow.

The light reflected off the bulkhead, enveloping the entire room in an eerie dark red hue.

Chen Mo stared at it for a few seconds.

Last night underwater, he sensed the pure water element contained within the core.

Water-evil is formed from the resentment of drowning victims, feeding on fear and despair, and lying dormant at the bottom of the water for years or even decades before it can condense into such a core.

This process itself is filthy and distorted, stained with negative emotions.

But what ultimately settled was such pure water elemental power.

Chen Mo suddenly felt a bit ironic; unfortunately, he had benefited from it all.

What he needs to do is seize this power for himself.

The second layer of the mental cultivation method of "Taiyin Chongxing Pian" slowly emerged in his mind.

He had practiced this technique for nearly half a year and had already mastered it.

The first level is "Establishment of Evil Spirits," which involves absorbing the essence of evil spirits into oneself to enhance physical constitution and strength.

He has already fused with the ghost skin and undergone divine transformation, making his physique far superior to that of ordinary people. The bone spear was also obtained from that stage.

The second layer is called the nanocore.

The core of a malevolent entity is the essence of its entire being, similar to a demon core or inner core.

Fusion only absorbs the physical and external abilities of evil spirits, gaining nothing more than superficial benefits.

The true essence of seizing power lies in acquiring the core capabilities of the evil entity and making them one's own.

What is the core ability of the Water Sha?

Control water usage.

Chen Mo's lips curled up slightly.

He held the core in his palm, sat cross-legged on the bed, closed his eyes, and began to practice the mental techniques of the "Taiyin Chongxing Chapter".

The Yin energy within the body flowed slowly, completing a full cycle along specific meridian pathways, before condensing at the dantian, like a cloud of mist compressed to its limit.

Then, he guided this spiritual power and slowly probed into the core of his palm.

The moment they made contact, Chen Mo's consciousness was abruptly pulled into an unfamiliar world.

The water is boundless.

There was no sky, no land, no shore, no bottom; all around was water.

It was cold and dark, like being buried alive in a watery tomb.

This is the primordial will remaining from the water elemental force.

Chen Mo did not resist; this was an inevitable process.

To control the power of the Water Demon, one must first accept its will.

He paused for a moment, letting his consciousness sink into the vast waters, to the deepest point, a place where even light could not reach.

There, he saw a pair of eyes.

Dark red, emotionless eyes.

"boom."

The moment Chen Mo met those eyes.

The floodwaters surged, the darkness shattered, and those dark red eyes turned into countless fragments, rushing towards Chen Mo's consciousness and frantically pouring into his mind.

excruciating pain.

The pain was more intense than when I was squeezed by the water jets underwater last night.

It wasn't physical pain, but a tearing sensation on the level of the soul.

It wasn't physical pain, but a tearing sensation on the level of the soul.

It was as if something was taking root and sprouting deep within his consciousness, rewriting his body's perception of water in a tyrannical and unreasonable way.

Chen Mo gritted his teeth, veins bulging on his forehead, and sweat rolled down his face like rain.

My body was trembling violently, and the iron frame of the bed creaked and groaned.

The demon core in his palm grew brighter and brighter, turning from dark red to a dazzling scarlet, casting a blood-red shadow on the cabin wall, making the entire room look like it was soaked in a vat of blood.

At the same time, the surface of the river outside the boat began to change.

Centered on the boat, the river water began to sink.

It wasn't the boat that was rising; it was the water surface that was sinking, as if something was pressing the river surface into a huge arc.

The waterline on both sides of the hull receded by two feet, revealing the planks covered with moss.

The sky darkened at the same moment.

Clouds surged in from all directions, and the gray-black clouds spread and piled up high in the sky, covering the sky in just a dozen breaths.

A bolt of lightning cleaved through the clouds, illuminating the entire river surface with a stark white light, causing the wooden planks on the deck to tremble.

Inside the cockpit, Master Long was talking to Tie Kun while holding a teacup.

The teacup was placed on the table, and suddenly fine ripples appeared on the surface of the water, then the whole table began to shake slightly.

Thinking the boat had struck a reef, Master Long suddenly stood up and looked out, but the river was wide open and there was nothing there.

"No, this weather is wrong, it's not a day that's going to rain."

Master Long also came out.

He's been sailing for most of his life, what kind of weather hasn't he seen?

Before the storm, the clouds pressed down from the horizon, but now the clouds overhead seem to be coming from all directions at once, as if the moisture from the entire river is converging on the same point.

That spot was right beneath their feet.

"Lord Long!"

The voices of several sailors came from the direction of the deck, filled with obvious panic.

Having just experienced the terrifying water demon of last night, these people are now extremely nervous.

Master Long and Tie Kun exchanged a glance and quickly walked to the ship's side.

Several people were already standing on the deck.

The fat man rushed out of the kitchen, still clutching half a steamed bun in his hand. He ran to the side of the ship and looked down, almost falling to the ground.

"Where's the water...?"

The water level under the boat is still sinking.

Even more strangely, the ship did not sink.

The waterline receded above the hull, but the ship remained steadily suspended in mid-air, as if the surrounding river water had receded on its own, avoiding something.

"This..." Master Long opened his mouth, but for a moment he didn't know what to say.

He'd never seen anything like it before.

Tie Kun suddenly turned around, his gaze passing over the deck and landing in the direction of the passenger cabin.

"Over there, in Master Chen's room."

Everyone followed his gaze.

The window of the cabin on the right shone with a dark red light, which flickered in the lightning.

The fat man's voice trembled slightly, "What is Grandpa Chen doing?"

"Master Tie!" Master Long frowned, turning his gaze to Tie Kun beside him. "Do you understand what this is all about?"

Tie Kun stood at the ship's side, gripping the railing tightly with one hand.

"Is Master Chen practicing some kind of martial art?" He wasn't entirely sure.

.......

Inside the room, I don't know how much time had passed.

Maybe a few minutes, maybe half an hour

The pain finally began to subside.

The core light gradually dimmed, and finally lost its luster completely, like an ordinary stone.

Click.

A crack appeared on the core surface.

Then came the second, the third...

The cracks spread out like a spider web, covering the entire surface.

Finally, with a soft rustling sound, the core shattered into grayish-white powder, which fell through Chen Mo's fingers.

He slowly opened his eyes.

A flash of dark red light appeared deep within his pupils and then disappeared.

Chen Mo looked down at the powder covering his hands, remained silent for a moment, then stretched out his right hand, spread his five fingers, and gently clenched his fist towards the copper basin in the corner.

The remaining water in the copper basin stirred.

The shallow layer of water slowly rose from the bottom of the basin, condensing into a small water ball that floated in mid-air.

"hey-hey."

Chen Mo released his grip, and the water ball fell back to the bottom of the basin, splashing up a few tiny water droplets.

He clenched his fist, then opened it again.

This time, the water vapor in the air began to condense.

The river was already quite humid, and now those invisible water molecules seemed to gather together, surging in from all directions, and converging above his palm into a water droplet the size of an egg, clear and transparent, slowly rotating.

Chen Mo stared at the water droplet for two seconds, then flicked his wrist, and the droplet flew out silently, hitting the cabin wall and exploding into a fine mist.

He took a deep breath, closed his eyes, and sensed the changes within himself.

The area covered by divine sense has nearly doubled compared to before.

Previously, it could only cover an area of ​​about five meters centered on itself, but now it can cover at least ten meters away.

Within this range, he can manipulate everything related to water.

More importantly, he felt an unprecedented affinity for water in his body.

The feeling is hard to describe; it's as if water is no longer something external, but a part of the body, like having an extra invisible limb that can stretch out at will.

If he were to jump into the river now, he wouldn't need to swim at all; the water would automatically carry him forward.

Chen Mo opened his eyes, and a genuine smile finally appeared on his lips.

"It's done."

He stood up and stretched his limbs.

The sweat from fusing the core earlier has soaked my clothes, making them sticky and uncomfortable against my skin.

He rummaged through the metal cabinet and found a dry piece of clothing to change into. He wrung out the wet clothes and hung them on the bed railing to dry.

Just then, footsteps suddenly came from outside the door, paused for a moment, and then there was a knock.

"Uncle Chen? Are you inside?" It was the fat man's voice.

Chen Mo walked over and pulled the latch.

There was more than just the fat man standing outside the door.

Master Long, Tie Kun, Shen Yunjin, Li Jinrong, and two sailors completely blocked the corridor.

All eyes turned to him, as if they were scrutinizing a suspect who had just committed some wrongdoing.

The fat man stood at the front, his face still pale, and the half-eaten steamed bun in his hand had been squeezed into a lump of dough.

He glanced over Chen Mo's shoulder into the room; the water stain on the bulkhead was dissipating, and there were specks of dark red powder on the floor...

Nothing seems out of the ordinary?

"Uncle Chen, are you alright?" Fatty Li looked at his face suspiciously. "That sky...that cloud...and that red light in your window..."

He gestured, but couldn't make it clear.

Chen Mo leaned against the door frame, his expression unchanged.

"It's nothing, I was just practicing my martial arts."

"The breakthrough in cultivation technique caused quite a stir."

He hadn't expected the commotion from absorbing the Water Fiend Core to be so huge, but by then he had already fused halfway through and couldn't stop at all.

The fat man blinked.

"Practice...kung fu?"

The fat man looked down at the water stains on the deck that hadn't completely dried, then looked up at the dissipating clouds outside the window, and finally managed to utter a sentence.

"What kind of evil kung fu are you practicing? It's terrifying!"

Chen Mo glanced at him.

"Is this weird?"

The fat man nodded vigorously.

Chen Mo thought for a moment and replied seriously, "It's alright, not too evil."

Tie Kun coughed and took half a step forward.

He didn't press for the origin of the technique, but merely glanced at Chen Mo and whispered, "Mr. Chen, could you please give me a heads-up before practicing next time?"

Chen Mo nodded.

"As much as possible."

Tie Kun's lips twitched, but he didn't say anything more.

Master Long waved his hand to dismiss the sailors. "Alright, Master Chen is fine. Go back to your seats."

The fat man said "oh," took two steps, then turned back and glanced at Chen Mo with a hesitant look.

"Uncle Chen."

"Um."

"Next time you practice your skills, can I disembark earlier?"

"Sure, I'll take you down now if you need it."

.....

Chen Mo closed the door, and the latch went into place.

The door panel blocked the fat man's receding footsteps, and the cabin fell silent again.

He stood behind the door for a moment, making sure all the noise in the corridor had subsided, before walking back to the bed and sitting down, silently praying.

"The Moonlit Mirror".

[Moonlight Treasure Mirror - Holder Status]

Name: Chen Mo

[Realm Level: Late Stage of Qi Refining (True Seed Condensation)]

Bone age: 19 years and 8 months

[Remaining lifespan: 160 years and 289 days]

[Innate constitution: Grade A, medium quality (Yin meridian affinity - Water meridian affinity)]

[Soul: Grade A, Mid-Rank]

[Constitution: Taiyin Body (Progress 20%)]

[Innate Ability: Water Control]

[Cultivation Technique: "Yellow Spring Water Control True Method - Incomplete" (High-grade Profound Rank) - Not Yet Entered]

[Technique:.........]

[Secret Technique:.........]

【Moonlight Enchantment: 1.08】